Event Cinema
UK: Secret Cinema has announced its new film and it is Berlin award-winner The Grand Budapest Hotel, showing a full week early, thus demonstrating the power the brand has built with audiences and distributors. “Today, Secret Cinema announces its live cinema experience of Wes Anderson’s critically acclaimed The Grand Budapest Hotel – running from 27 February until 30 March in a secret Central London location, opening over one week before its official release. The press night will be on Wednesday 26 February… The audience will be invited to join the ranks of The Grand Budapest Hotel’s distinguished guests, in this parallel real-world setting curated by Secret Cinema, transporting the audience into a celebration of 1932 European glamour and romance.” Link.
UK: Meanwhile the sister company Future Cinema has announced details of its Who Framed Roger Rabbit screenings. “Following the success of recent productions including Ghostbusters, Casablanca and Saturday Night Fever, Future Cinema has transformed London’s Troxy cinema into the jazz club featured in Robert Zemeckis’ 1988 animation-live action hybrid Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Once inside the impressive venue, guests sat at one of the many tables that replaced the usual cinema seating and were treated to a series of musical acts, all appropriate to its 1940s setting.” Link.
USA: A few hundred lucky fans of Game of Thrones in Santa Fe, New Mexico will get to watch the first episode of the fourth season a full week before it goes out on HBO, thanks to the author of the books, who revealed that: “HBO will broadcast episode one of season 4, entitled… ooops, sorry, don’t think I am allowed to reveal the title yet… on Sunday, April 6. But on Saturday, March 29, 375 lucky New Mexicans will get a chance to see what the rest of the country will need to wait another week and day for. I am thrilled to announce that on that day, by special arrangement with HBO, we will be presenting three advance screenings of episode 401 at the Jean Cocteau Cinema.” Impressively there will be a morning show in Spanish-language only. Link. Crime India: A sad and no less pointless death than the Florida shooting. “An 18-year-old student was stabbed to death by four persons in a cinema hall over a petty dispute, police said today. Karan Wagh, a student of class 12th, was watching the night show of the recently released film ‘Gunday’ at Astha Talkies in Patnipura area along with his friends when he objected to a man putting his leg over his seat, Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Abid Khan told reporters here.” Link.
Cinema Opening/Closings
New Zealand: “Work has started on converting the former Hoyts cinema into a Reading cinema complex. Reading Entertainment managing director Wayne Smith said work was ”well under way”, but the company was keeping the design of the complex confidential until it opened. Mr Smith previously said the company was going to spend ”millions” converting the building and the plan was to open ”mid” this year.” Link.
UK: “The Bullring shopping centre in Birmingham is set for a new cinema as part of a drive for growth, according to its owner. Property group Hammerson, which increased its stake in the centre to 50 per cent in a £307 million deal last May, confirmed a big screen was part of its plans. In a statement to the stock exchange, Hammerson said the Bullring remained one of Europe’s leading shopping centres, attracting 40 million visitors a year – but could be bringing in more.” Link.
USA: “Dan Harkins, owner of Arizona-based Harkins Theatres, has been watching and hoping for six to seven years for an opportunity to open a theater in Queen Creek and now that time has come. Mr. Harkins made the comments to a couple hundred people at a groundbreaking ceremony Feb. 15 in the Queen Creek Marketplace, on the southwest corner of Rittenhouse and Ellsworth roads.” Link.
History 
India: The National Museum of Indian Cinema (NMIC) opens its doors for the first time this Friday. “”The museum is not Bollywood-centric, there is equal emphasis on the pioneers and stalwarts of every regional film zone, from Bengal to down South, through the North to the North-East,” says coordinator Anil Kumar, asserting the idea is to recreate and relive our cinema through a collection of equipment, photographs, hand-written shooting scripts, lobby cards, interactive computer-aided displays, CDs and DVDs and much more.” Link. Finally 
